When I visited New York last month, I deliberately planned to stay away from the tourist traps. Having been to the city twice before, I had been lucky enough to experience the main attractions of New York and only had a few more activities to cross off my wish list. I only had three days to explore, so I wanted to make the most of wandering around and taking in the ‘real’ New York.

When looking for things to do I stumbled across Vimbly, a ‘one stop shop’ for activities in the city. Whether you are looking to take your first aerial silks class, be educated on the art of wine tasting or go on a city harbour cruise – Vimbly has something for everybody.

They kindly invited me to pick something to do on my trip and as I was travelling solo, I looked for activities that would be suitable for one person. I settled on a chocolate making experience on the Upper East Side- figuring that I’d be able to go away with some treats as well as exploring a new part of the city.

The class was situated inside a chocolate shop on 79th street. I was slightly surprised to find that I was the only person taking part in the experience, especially as it was the weekend – but the sessions were very regular so slots may have been filled throughout the day.

My experience lasted an hour, in which I piped out six chocolate bars into moulds and had great fun decorating them with various toppings. It was nice knowing that I could take the bars home for my family and give them something I had made personally (even if they weren’t as Pinterest-worthy as I thought!). I even made up the packaging for my gifts and used the left over chocolate to create some ‘bark’ to take back with me.

The staff were very friendly, there were no ‘hidden costs’ that you sometimes find with experiences – and it was just a really nice, relaxing way to spend a Sunday morning!

If you are undecided on what to do on your trip to NYC – Vimbly is a great site to give ideas that you possibly didn’t know existed!